"easter candy" news and stories

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Don't stop at your closets; your fridge could use some clearing out, too.
• A crowded strawberry market might lead to cheap shortcake.
• Add a touch of the tropics to the season with a salad of kiwi, avocado, arugula and pickled shallots.
• If you haven't overdosed on Easter candy, pipe in to the jelly bean vs. chocolate egg debate.
• We don't know how you could ever OD on Cadbury creme eggs, the perfect breakfast protein.
• Fennel and onion spaghetti -- a lickety-split dinner.
• Don't forget the mustard with these home-run pretzels.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• This sugary legume is smarter than you.
• Is hopping chocolate your thing?
• Hold the mint jelly on this navarin of lamb.
• An Easter menu including mustard ham, asparagus and creme fraiche is one that we can get behind.
• Manage the in-laws with pink torpedoes or one of these cocktails.
• After a harsh winter, the White House garden rises again and is expanding.
• You've been visiting wineries all wrong.

For years we've welcomed spring by biting through the sugary skin of chicks and bunnies to get to the soft and sweet marshmallow Peep inside. But this Easter, things are looking especially bright: Peeps manufacturer Just Born has let loose a new horde of sugary holiday snacks, housing their classic marshmallow flavor in both milk and dark chocolate. No, we're not talking about a little Peep nestled in an outer chocolate shell.

These guys aren't exactly like their classic brethren. Dunked into melted chocolate, these chicks -- no bunnies allowed in this club -- come in individually wrapped packages. Second, these new Peeps are lacking the crackling outer coating of sugar. Instead, to give the candy that classic Easter color, Just Born has colored the tasty 'mallow inside a nice pastel yellow.

Can chocolate bring new life to the beloved Easter treat, and match the piles of bunnies and chicks that find their way into eager Easter baskets, culinary adventures, and movie dioramas? Can you bear to bite into a Peep without its colorful skin and white center? We'll leave that answer up to you:

Chocolate-covered Peeps: yay or nay?

Related: Chocolate Covered Peeps Drop In Time For Easter

Got more Easter candy than you can deal with? Don't gorge and eat it all, don't save it 'til it goes bad and definitely don't throw it away! Get crafty in the kitchen and re-use it.

Here at last is the final installment of 5 Easter Candies in 5 Days before we send you off with a sweet adieu for the weekend. It's worth keeping in mind that these treats can be made any time of year. In fact, the darling flowers and bunnies from "The Ultimate Candy Book" shown above are actually found in the "Halloween Candy" section, but are the "Easter" variation. Confusing, we know ... but deliciously confusing. It strangely makes sense because the taste of these pretty blooms will remind you instantly of an autumnal treat -- candy corns.

Regardless, the treats are delish, and this recipe makes a firm sugary mixture that can be molded into nearly any pastel configuration for the Easter basket or springtime candy bowl. Press it into molds for an assortment of cute bunnies and chicks for a perfect family afternoon project. The candies come together much like fondant truffles, but this recipe doesn't take a lot of fuss, just a little help. Four or six hands are better than two, so get some kids, get cookin' and have fun!